Capable of Raising Kids
by Laces Kai
Summary: Based on a moment during Batman Arsenal (1997). Shortly after Oliver Queen's death, Arsenal seeks the help of one of Gotham's finest... when Nightwing can't help, Roy gets teamed up with Batman. Roy starts, "I don't know what the hell made you superhero guys think you were capable of raising kids, but let me tell you something…." as Roy rants Batman thinks these kids they raised.


**Capable of Raising Kids**  
_Somehow this turned into a quick one-shot_

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_Author's note: this is based off of an interaction between Arsenal and Batman (in Batman + Arsenal, 1997) where Batman tells Roy Harper he performed Adequately and Roy sort of explodes. This is also, shortly after Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) dies in an explosion (also sometime in 1997 DC timeline). _

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Batman recognized the tone, the indignation of youth so loudly demanding to be heard. This was when one of the boys usually told him just how wrong he had been, how age had made him into some sort of fool. There was always a moment when Bruce idly wondered if he would have ever challenged his father in such a way. But the what if whim never lasted long, as the furious stomping of feet reminded him he was being chastised by a righteous youth.

Roy was louder and clumsier than Dick, Jason or Tim. And suddenly Batman cringed thinking maybe he shouldn't have told the boy he was merely adequate. Speedy had hardly been trained like any of the Robins, after all. But then Harper says something about praise not killing anyone, and Batman finds his own righteous attitude again. Undue praise could get them killed, them these children raised by superheroes as he called them. Self-esteem was for little league coaches, not superheroes and best Roy Harper kept understanding that if he was merely adequate he would not be told otherwise.

And then the archer clearly states Dick's name, something about being second best. Again the dark knight is caught in a vivid memory of a surly youth. Jason had shouted those words at him so many years ago. It seemed his first Robin had the brazen ability to show up everyone around him. Batman tried not to let the prideful smile win over his focused grim expression. Undue praise, he silently reminded himself. Roy didn't sound angry, not like Jason always had been when suffering from his bouts of rivalry with Dick. No, Harper was resigned to his status as self-proclaimed second best. Even happy about it, because he didn't have to deal with him?

Green Arrow's sidekick had never been discreet about his attitude towards Batman. No matter how many times Ollie had snapped at him to mind his manners. But it had never bothered Batman, he knew he was tough. There was a reason Arsenal was only adequate where Nightwing would have been good. All right, Dick would have been perfect but the Bat would never give the young man such high praise.

But then the tone changed. Roy was standing still and looking right at him. Arsenal was pretending to be angry now, but while he stood there saying maddening words the boy seemed to be begging for something. He was trying to insult Batman but was he talking about Ollie? Oliver Queen had been as carefree as his young charge on occasion. Green Arrow had often suggested to Batman to lighten up on his own charges, take them out to play a game a basketball once in a while he had suggested. It was when Roy declared they had never been family but only soldiers that Batman understood, Bruce understood.

The Dark Knight felt a stab at his heart for the boy who missed his mentor. A tiny fear creeping into his mind about what might happen to Dick or Tim one day after his own last night. Would they seek another hero, an older one to rage against about his own faults? Would they feel like Roy, that they had never been his family, but merely his soldiers? Roy had started his bitter tirade by questioning why they had chosen to raise children but had the boys never noticed the heroes had never made that choice. These children had chosen them. Roy Harper, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Timothy Drake…. they had come to them in one way or another. Stubborn little brats had insisted on fighting alongside them. Ollie, Bruce knew had shared in his reservations of bringing a child into the crusade. But the boys would not stand down. They had remained, possibly not always following orders and often barely suppressing their teenage angst. But even after all the fights, and despite the unspoken resentments or unfinished arguments the boys had kept fighting alongside them. This is what Roy didn't realize, didn't understand. Batman thought about explaining it to the young man.

Instead Batman stated the first thing that came to mind. He missed Ollie too, and all the piss and vinegar fell from the boy's face. He had calmed Roy down, made him feel understood but Batman would never be able to had not sought soldiers in his war, neither had Ollie. They hadn't wanted them to join the cause, but these children had chosen and these men had loved them for choosing them. But like any parent, Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen had made mistakes. One day, he hoped they would all forgive them and know how much of they had been family. But today, he would not fail his old friend by letting his boy die stupidly at the hands of a villain named Beast.


End file.
